Well the results are in and our team did better than expected. So much better, in fact, that we won the whole shebang. Our 3474 handicap total was just enough to hold off the second place team which was 23 pins behind us. That's close, like one frame close. With the win we each take home a cool $30 and I believe there may be a trophy involved. We also put a target on our backs for next year's tournament.
As expected my 722 led the individual awards with the next highest scratch series being a 695. This gives me another $25. My 269 game and corresponding handicap game and series were also tops, but you can only win one individual award. My teammate Joe also won an additional $20 for second highest handicap game.
I definitely had a great time and it really made me want to explore more serious tournaments. I think I might try to convince my brother to come out to Erie next year for the singles and doubles events in the Pennsylvania State Tournament. Should be a good time.
Showing posts with label Tournament Recap. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tournament Recap. Show all posts
April 11, 2013
April 8, 2013
Andrew Carnegie Athletic Association Bowling Tournament 2013
Game 1: 227
Game 2: 269
Game 3: 226
Series: 722
Average: 240
Saturday was my second run at U.S. Steel's annual bowling tournament at Legacy Lanes. I threw a 639 last year, but all I could remember is how friendly the lane conditions and pins were. I've only bowled in this house twice, but both times worked out well for me. I tried not to fall into a trap and my main goal was to focus on making good shots. As a team I set a goal for us to shoot about 750 scratch each game, putting us a few pins over average. The handicap was 90% of 220 which also helped us out a little bit.
From the first frame I felt really good. During the first game I quickly realized I had to play a different line on each lane, something I had experienced during league not too long ago. I stayed in the pocket all game and made all of my spares. I made a small adjustment during the game, moving up a half step on the approach, but otherwise I just threw the same shot all day. I finished with a 227 the first game and the team was about 100 pins over average.
We moved one pair to our right for the second game. Waiting for the first teams on that set to finish I noticed that everyone was running a little high so I decided to play the first game line that was further inside to catch the oil. I started with the first six strikes in a row, matching my personal best start to a game. Teammates stopped talking to me and everyone started tensing up a little bit. Standing on the approach for the seventh frame I could feel more eyes watching me than usual. I pulled the shot left, letting my nerves get the best of me, but the ball hit Brooklyn and carried the 5-pin for another strike. This was officially new territory for me. I knew that would be my one gift for the game and every ball form there on out had to be perfect. I told myself this was just another frame trying to knock the knot out of my stomach and hit all my marks again for my eighth strike in a row. It was getting serious. Between balls I had been playing with my daughter in the back, but even she seemed to shy away from me leading up to the ninth frame. I took an extra breath as I picked up my ball and set up on the approach. I threw a half board right of my mark, but I had been able to carry with similar throws before. I hit the pocket just a hair light and everything on the left fell a little slower than usual. A few pins rolled in front of the 7-pin, but nothing had enough momentum to knock it down. My streak ended at eight. I struck again my first ball in the tenth and finished with another spare for a 269 game, a personal best by one pin.
We moved one more pair right for the last game and I started with the first four in a row. I made all my spares and strung a few strikes together, but my mind was still back in the ninth frame of the second game. I cruised to a 227, something not usually easy for me. I finished with my second best ever series, a 722.
The event organizer told me I had wrapped up the top scratch series which puts $25 in my pocket. She also said they were really rooting for me to get the 300 because no one had ever done it at the tournament before, which I find surprising because there are some great bowlers there. The team shot all three games over 1150 with handicap so I like our chances in placing. I'll post the results as soon as I get word.
I had a lot of fun, but I also learned that my mental game still needs some work. I can't let myself get too worked up or excited in high stress situations. It was a new experience for me and two days later I am still riding the high. I wasn't even really upset at leaving the 7-pin and was quickly able to shake it off, hit the reset button, and concentrate on picking up the spare. Reflecting with my smiling teammates when I got to the back was a pretty cool feeling, though.
Maybe I should think about joining a league at this center next year, who knows how well I could do!
Game 2: 269
Game 3: 226
Series: 722
Average: 240
Saturday was my second run at U.S. Steel's annual bowling tournament at Legacy Lanes. I threw a 639 last year, but all I could remember is how friendly the lane conditions and pins were. I've only bowled in this house twice, but both times worked out well for me. I tried not to fall into a trap and my main goal was to focus on making good shots. As a team I set a goal for us to shoot about 750 scratch each game, putting us a few pins over average. The handicap was 90% of 220 which also helped us out a little bit.
From the first frame I felt really good. During the first game I quickly realized I had to play a different line on each lane, something I had experienced during league not too long ago. I stayed in the pocket all game and made all of my spares. I made a small adjustment during the game, moving up a half step on the approach, but otherwise I just threw the same shot all day. I finished with a 227 the first game and the team was about 100 pins over average.
We moved one pair to our right for the second game. Waiting for the first teams on that set to finish I noticed that everyone was running a little high so I decided to play the first game line that was further inside to catch the oil. I started with the first six strikes in a row, matching my personal best start to a game. Teammates stopped talking to me and everyone started tensing up a little bit. Standing on the approach for the seventh frame I could feel more eyes watching me than usual. I pulled the shot left, letting my nerves get the best of me, but the ball hit Brooklyn and carried the 5-pin for another strike. This was officially new territory for me. I knew that would be my one gift for the game and every ball form there on out had to be perfect. I told myself this was just another frame trying to knock the knot out of my stomach and hit all my marks again for my eighth strike in a row. It was getting serious. Between balls I had been playing with my daughter in the back, but even she seemed to shy away from me leading up to the ninth frame. I took an extra breath as I picked up my ball and set up on the approach. I threw a half board right of my mark, but I had been able to carry with similar throws before. I hit the pocket just a hair light and everything on the left fell a little slower than usual. A few pins rolled in front of the 7-pin, but nothing had enough momentum to knock it down. My streak ended at eight. I struck again my first ball in the tenth and finished with another spare for a 269 game, a personal best by one pin.
We moved one more pair right for the last game and I started with the first four in a row. I made all my spares and strung a few strikes together, but my mind was still back in the ninth frame of the second game. I cruised to a 227, something not usually easy for me. I finished with my second best ever series, a 722.
The event organizer told me I had wrapped up the top scratch series which puts $25 in my pocket. She also said they were really rooting for me to get the 300 because no one had ever done it at the tournament before, which I find surprising because there are some great bowlers there. The team shot all three games over 1150 with handicap so I like our chances in placing. I'll post the results as soon as I get word.
I had a lot of fun, but I also learned that my mental game still needs some work. I can't let myself get too worked up or excited in high stress situations. It was a new experience for me and two days later I am still riding the high. I wasn't even really upset at leaving the 7-pin and was quickly able to shake it off, hit the reset button, and concentrate on picking up the spare. Reflecting with my smiling teammates when I got to the back was a pretty cool feeling, though.
Maybe I should think about joining a league at this center next year, who knows how well I could do!
November 20, 2012
Week 12 Recap
Game 1: 166
Game 2: 214
Game 3: 256
Series: 636
Week Avg: 212
Season Avg: 193
First, I wanted to apologize for not updating the SPL page in a while. We'll be hosting Thanksgiving at my house and so I've been trying to get some cleaning and things done before our families come over Wednesday night. Hopefully I will have a few weeks' worth of updates on the page after this weekend followed by a recap of the first quarter of the SPL.
Secondly, the charity bowling tournament went really well on Sunday. There were at least 40 bowlers, in addition to a 50/50 and Chinese auction, which all raised money for my teammate's co-worker who is currently battling cancer. I bowled pretty well, scoring a 213, 183, and 215 for the day. During the first game I played a little further left than usual, creating a bigger arch into the pocket. After the first game I lost that line and went to my typical line of standing at the 25 board and throwing at the 8. My teammate, his aunt and I were the only league bowlers there and we swept the awards with ease. I took home top series honors by about 150 pins.
Now, onto my league recap. I decided to start the night with the Python rather than the C-System since it has been performing really well lately. One of our bowlers had pre-bowled and another was a no show so we knew it would be a quick night. After practice we found out that four of the opposing team's members had also rolled off and their fifth bowler never showed, so there were only three of us on our pair. As my wife remarked, it felt like we were the ones doing the pre-bowling. That worked for me, I usually do better in that situation any way.
Everything looked great in practice, but the first few frames of the first game were disastrous. I had a couple of spares and a couple of opens to start the evening. I kept missing my mark and realized about halfway through the game that I was dropping my right shoulder. Once I made a conscious effort to stay upright at the foul line everything came together. I finished the game with a 166 and barely squeaked out a win for the team.
The second game started much better than the first. I was striking regularly, but a few mistakes caused me to leave a 3-10 split and I opened on a 3-6-10. I was not making very good decisions on how to play multi-pin leaves. I threw four in a row late in the game and finished out with a spare and a strike in the tenth for a 214 and another big win for the team.
The last game was glorious, but also a case of "what might have been." My first ball fell off my hand early and left the 1-2-4-7, which I converted. I doubled and then left my buddy the 8-10 split on a solid pocket shot for an open. I adjusted a few inches up on the approach for that lane only and made no adjustments on the other lane, remembering my misstep from last week. The last eight balls were strikes. No iffy strikes either, these were beautiful. It was a ten strike 256 game, probably the most strikes I've ever thrown in one game and a tie for my personal record for the most strikes in a row in one game. The team swept the night and continues its way up the standings.
I wish I could have kept going to see if I could have thrown four more strikes. This was the best I have ever felt bowling. Everything felt easy. The ball came off my hand perfectly, generating a little more revs than usual for me. My form was above average for me, as I held my position at the foul line after releasing the ball more often than not. I don't know how I looked up there, but I felt like a pro that last game. And it felt good.
As I mentioned, my spare shooting was less than stellar. In addition to the 8-10, 3-10 and 2-7 splits I left, I chopped a 3-6-10, 2-4-5 and 6-9 and outright missed an 8-pin. I've been perfect on 10-pins lately though, which has been a huge help.
Enjoy your Thanksgiving, everyone. May your turkeys be plentiful, both on the table and on the lanes.
Game 2: 214
Game 3: 256
Series: 636
Week Avg: 212
Season Avg: 193
First, I wanted to apologize for not updating the SPL page in a while. We'll be hosting Thanksgiving at my house and so I've been trying to get some cleaning and things done before our families come over Wednesday night. Hopefully I will have a few weeks' worth of updates on the page after this weekend followed by a recap of the first quarter of the SPL.
Secondly, the charity bowling tournament went really well on Sunday. There were at least 40 bowlers, in addition to a 50/50 and Chinese auction, which all raised money for my teammate's co-worker who is currently battling cancer. I bowled pretty well, scoring a 213, 183, and 215 for the day. During the first game I played a little further left than usual, creating a bigger arch into the pocket. After the first game I lost that line and went to my typical line of standing at the 25 board and throwing at the 8. My teammate, his aunt and I were the only league bowlers there and we swept the awards with ease. I took home top series honors by about 150 pins.
Now, onto my league recap. I decided to start the night with the Python rather than the C-System since it has been performing really well lately. One of our bowlers had pre-bowled and another was a no show so we knew it would be a quick night. After practice we found out that four of the opposing team's members had also rolled off and their fifth bowler never showed, so there were only three of us on our pair. As my wife remarked, it felt like we were the ones doing the pre-bowling. That worked for me, I usually do better in that situation any way.
Everything looked great in practice, but the first few frames of the first game were disastrous. I had a couple of spares and a couple of opens to start the evening. I kept missing my mark and realized about halfway through the game that I was dropping my right shoulder. Once I made a conscious effort to stay upright at the foul line everything came together. I finished the game with a 166 and barely squeaked out a win for the team.
The second game started much better than the first. I was striking regularly, but a few mistakes caused me to leave a 3-10 split and I opened on a 3-6-10. I was not making very good decisions on how to play multi-pin leaves. I threw four in a row late in the game and finished out with a spare and a strike in the tenth for a 214 and another big win for the team.
The last game was glorious, but also a case of "what might have been." My first ball fell off my hand early and left the 1-2-4-7, which I converted. I doubled and then left my buddy the 8-10 split on a solid pocket shot for an open. I adjusted a few inches up on the approach for that lane only and made no adjustments on the other lane, remembering my misstep from last week. The last eight balls were strikes. No iffy strikes either, these were beautiful. It was a ten strike 256 game, probably the most strikes I've ever thrown in one game and a tie for my personal record for the most strikes in a row in one game. The team swept the night and continues its way up the standings.
I wish I could have kept going to see if I could have thrown four more strikes. This was the best I have ever felt bowling. Everything felt easy. The ball came off my hand perfectly, generating a little more revs than usual for me. My form was above average for me, as I held my position at the foul line after releasing the ball more often than not. I don't know how I looked up there, but I felt like a pro that last game. And it felt good.
As I mentioned, my spare shooting was less than stellar. In addition to the 8-10, 3-10 and 2-7 splits I left, I chopped a 3-6-10, 2-4-5 and 6-9 and outright missed an 8-pin. I've been perfect on 10-pins lately though, which has been a huge help.
Enjoy your Thanksgiving, everyone. May your turkeys be plentiful, both on the table and on the lanes.
April 2, 2012
Andrew Carnegie Athletic Association Bowling Tournament
Saturday afternoon was US Steel's Andrew Carnegie Athletic Association Bowling Tournament at Legacy Lanes in Pittsburgh. This was a 90% handicap tournament based on a 220 average with five bowlers per team. If you could not get five bowlers (like our team) you received a vacancy 175 with no handicap included for the empty spot. So right away we were at a bit of a disadvantage. Looking at the teams leading up to the event you could see there were a lot of good bowlers. I think I had the tenth highest average at 191 out of 48 total registered bowlers. To liven things up a bit, we also changed lanes for each game.
Practice built up my confidence a little bit because the ball was moving pretty well and there was some room for error on the outside. However, one thing I forgot to factor in was that most of the bowlers were throwing a similar line to my own, unlike Thursdays where I typically have a line all to myself. By the end of practice the oil was pushed further down the lane and the ball hooked later toward the pocket. I spent a portion of the first game trying to adjust and get the ball back into the pocket, ending up on a similar line to Thursday nights. I missed a 4-8 in the first frame but after that I struck a few times and picked up my spares until I found a good line. I threw four in a row starting in the seventh frame and finished the first game with a 225. It was the second highest game on our pair (an opponent threw a 238) and I watched a bowler on the next set throw the front eight so I dropped any illusions of winning a top game or series prize right there.
For the next game we moved left one pair and I started with a missed 2-4-5. I threw a few more light hits early on, but luckily picked up a lot of nine count spares. I had a brief issue with missing my target but was able to correct it in a few frames. I found a sweet spot around the sixth frame before the ball started to run high in the tenth and I finished the second game with a 189.
We threw the last game one more pair to the left. I started off with a high shot leaving the 3-6-8-10, which I opened. I moved up a few inches and fired the next eleven balls right into the pocket for a double, an 8-pin spare, a four bagger, a 10-pin spare and a turkey. I finished the game with another 225 and a 639 series.
I had a great time and really enjoyed the competition. It helped that the lanes were oiled to yield high scores and it felt like as long as I hit my mark and put the ball in the pocket I was going to strike. But I can use all the confidence I can get coming down the home stretch of league play, so I'll take it. I don't think our team will place in the top five for prizes, but because bowlers are only allowed to win one individual award I might have a shot at a high game handicap payout. I should know by Friday for sure.
I would definitely go back next year, but we'll be sure to bring a full team next time to better our chances.
Practice built up my confidence a little bit because the ball was moving pretty well and there was some room for error on the outside. However, one thing I forgot to factor in was that most of the bowlers were throwing a similar line to my own, unlike Thursdays where I typically have a line all to myself. By the end of practice the oil was pushed further down the lane and the ball hooked later toward the pocket. I spent a portion of the first game trying to adjust and get the ball back into the pocket, ending up on a similar line to Thursday nights. I missed a 4-8 in the first frame but after that I struck a few times and picked up my spares until I found a good line. I threw four in a row starting in the seventh frame and finished the first game with a 225. It was the second highest game on our pair (an opponent threw a 238) and I watched a bowler on the next set throw the front eight so I dropped any illusions of winning a top game or series prize right there.
For the next game we moved left one pair and I started with a missed 2-4-5. I threw a few more light hits early on, but luckily picked up a lot of nine count spares. I had a brief issue with missing my target but was able to correct it in a few frames. I found a sweet spot around the sixth frame before the ball started to run high in the tenth and I finished the second game with a 189.
We threw the last game one more pair to the left. I started off with a high shot leaving the 3-6-8-10, which I opened. I moved up a few inches and fired the next eleven balls right into the pocket for a double, an 8-pin spare, a four bagger, a 10-pin spare and a turkey. I finished the game with another 225 and a 639 series.
I had a great time and really enjoyed the competition. It helped that the lanes were oiled to yield high scores and it felt like as long as I hit my mark and put the ball in the pocket I was going to strike. But I can use all the confidence I can get coming down the home stretch of league play, so I'll take it. I don't think our team will place in the top five for prizes, but because bowlers are only allowed to win one individual award I might have a shot at a high game handicap payout. I should know by Friday for sure.
I would definitely go back next year, but we'll be sure to bring a full team next time to better our chances.
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